Efforts this month under the sustainability mantle by leading pod-to-pallet cocoa player Barry Callebaut include a 250,000 tree-planting project in Tanzania, and a tripling of grindings in Ivory Coast.
Costs for cocoa have fallen from a peak of $3000 per tonne in July, to $2551.33 on Monday, but reports of the damaging black pod disease in Ivory Coast could drive prices upwards, compounded by political uncertainty that may see chocolate buyers eager...
Cocobod, the cocoa regulator for Ghana, has raised the fixed price it pays to farmers, a move that may not directly impact cocoa processors and buyers but could ultimately result in upward pressure on prices.
Strategies for confectionery makers to absorb rocketing price rises
are essential as cocoa prices crash through the $3000 barrier, with
demand outstripping supplies and pulling the stocks-to-grindings
ratio to a 22-year low.
There is a growing demand for cocoa from Latin America to meet the
increasing popularity of premium chocolates in Europe and the US,
according to a speaker at the recent meeting of the World Cocoa
Foundation (WCF) in Ecuador.
Barry Callebaut has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Biolands of
Tanzania, Africa's largest exporter of certified organic cocoa,
after purchasing 100 per cent of its top-end cocoa for the past
eight years.
Four hybrid cocoa species developed in Ghana to have improved
resistance to pest damage during storage have similar nutritional
properties to conventional cocoa, says a study that topples a
barrier to commercial trade.
While most consumers agree that ethically-sourced cocoa is no bad
thing, an ever increasing number of different schemes risks
muddying the issue and puzzling chocolate fans.
A panel of experts recommend that more countries be
recognised as fine or flavour cocoa producing countries in order to
provide new opportunities for trade.
The Vietnamese government estimates its overall cocoa crop will
reach 45,000 tonnes by 2015, aiming to make the catch the attention
of chocolate manufacturers around the world, according to Reuters.
Agricultural firm Cargill has started construction of a new cocoa
processing facility in Ghana, in an expansion move designed to meet
increasing global demand for cocoa products.
A UK-based pressure group campaign against companies
that buy cocoa from the Ivory Coast has accused
the industry of funding conflict and civil unrest.
US based cocoa producer Cargill has developed a new method of
processing cocoa which allows for reduced fat content and greater
dispersibility in cocoa powder.
Chocolate giant Mars has filed a lawsuit against Natraceutical,
alleging that the Spanish company is infringing its patents on
polyphenol-rich cocoa extracts by selling CocoanOX extracts in the
United States.
Supplier Buhler has boosted machinery supplies to facilities in
Ghana, enabling operations in the country to not only harvest the
beans but process them into cocoa butter and powder.
Barry Callebaut has produced a new website entirely devoted to
promoting the nutritional benefits of cocoa in an effort to
counteract the increasingly unhealthy image of chocolate products
and their unpopularity in a health-conscious...
The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has revised its gloomy
cocoa estimate of a 5,000 tonne deficit to predict a global surplus
of 80,000 tonnes of cocoa in the coming year, assuring
manufacturers of a steady supply.
Singapore-based cocoa bean supplier Olam has jointly acquired the
Cameroon cocoa processor Usicam with ADM, the world's largest cocoa
processor, giving both firms greater economy of scale in the
African market.
A moth with a penchant for cocoa may not sound too great an
ecological threat, but the Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB) is threatening to
ruin Papua New Guinea's entire crop.
Confectionary giant Mars has lauded recently published research as
further evidence of the benefits of flavanols from cocoa for a wide
range of health conditions, and looks set to lead to a new wave of
cocoa flavanol-enriched products...
The Malaysian cocoa board expects 2005 to set a new record for
cocoa exports, exceeding RM 2 billion ($530 million), thanks to
increased global consumption and access to new markets.
Dark chocolate made with flavonol-rich cocoa may help prevent
diarrhoea, say scientists who have found cocoa compounds to limit
the development of fluids that cause the condition.
Prices for cocoa remain relatively volatile as political unrest in
Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global cocoa crops,
keeps the market nervous.
Ladco Advanced Engineering, the parent company of Scotland-based
MacIntyre Chocolate Systems, has acquired Petzholdt-Heidenauer
International, in a bid to extend both companies' global reach in
the competitive chocolate processing...
Cocoa prices have leapt in London, driven by fears that instability
in Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global crops,
could impact supplies.
Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of cocoa and
chocolate products, increased its sales revenue, operating profit
(EBIT) and net profit.
Vietnam is halfway through its target of planting 500 hectares of
cocoa this year. The country, famed for its quality coffee
production, wants to become less reliant on one single cash crop.
The vast disparity between the price consumers in the UK pay for
their chocolate and the amount West African cocoa growers are paid
for the key ingredient in the confectionery has been highlighted
again this week by the Co-op. The...